They reminded her of a buzzing swarm. The ships had spread out over the city like a great net, and now that they had recovered their cargo, they swarmed together toward the heavens. The details of the city quickly disappeared below as they reached higher and higher. The ashy rain hadn't abated, tinging the air gray and leaving only the brilliant lights of the Affini ships in view.

Lily was still trying not to look into the eyes of her captor, still keeping her tongue on a tight leash. She had no idea what information the Affini could use, no idea what the consequences of speaking would be. Zena, for her part, looked hurt every time she rebuffed her attempts at conversation. Lily winced when she saw that she was causing Zena to become upset, but there simply wasn't any other way.

Eventually, Zena stopped trying to pry about her health, her past, her thoughts, her favourite foods or music or activities. She found it strange that slavers would probe for such inconsequential details as what she enjoyed eating, but she reasoned that it was better to be safe than sorry. She snuck a look over at her captor, catching her unawares. Zena appeared to be looking at the floor, perhaps meditating, leaving Lily to stare uninhibited. If she were honest, there was something compelling about her form, some sort of incomprehensible beauty in the tangle of vines and bark and leaves. The way that it subtly moved amongst itself was bordering on hypnotic. It was only when Zena turned her gaze back to her that Lily looked away, heat rising to her cheeks.

Zena didn't say anything, but Lily was almost certain that she had seen. Excellent work, Lily, ogle your captor more, surely that will only make things better! A tic worked itself into her jaw as Lily renewed her staring contest with the floor, as though her intense focus on something else would erase what she had just done.

Finally, in the near silence of their pod, Lily spoke. "Is Captain alive?" her voice was low and, at the mention of Captain, filled with unbidden emotion. She silently reproached herself for showing weakness to Zena. The Affini looked at her inquisitively, "To whom are you referring when you say Captain, little flower? I do not recall seeing a 'Captain' on the documents from the Office of Transitional Neoxenoveterinary Archeobureaucracy."

The tic worsened as Lily responded, "I don't know his name. He was larger, had a carbine. He probably met you at the door. I know he likely died in the assault, but I just thought maybe..." she trailed off, her voice becoming weak. She didn't know Captain for terribly long, just a couple weeks before the first day of the end of their lives, but the compassion and dedication he showed to the ones he looked after touched her. He didn't deserve to die like that. "Never mind, don't worry about it."

Zena's face could presumably not show any more confusion. Her features were scrunched and she struggled at which misconception to tackle first. "Wait just a moment, little flower, what do you mean dead? Do you think we killed anyone during our liberation?" Lily looked up from the floor to stare incredulously at the Affini, "'Liberate by force', remember? You bust down our door and executed anyone who stood in your way. I heard it!"

Zena quickly began shaking her head, "No no no, Lily, you have it all wrong! Perhaps my companion misspoke when he said 'liberate by force', our language is quite different from yours. He merely meant that you would be coming with us no matter what! We would never even contemplate killing one of your kind; it goes against our deepest convictions." Zena reached out something like a hand and took Lily's in her own before the girl could pull away.

"I saw you kill Jameson in front of me! He pulled a knife on your companion, granted, but I saw him stick something in his neck!" Lily said, exasperated. It was one thing to claim that what they did was for the greater good, but it was another thing entirely to lie to her about what happened. Her credulity could only be stretched so far before it snapped. Since when has an invading army not killed anyone?

Zena stroked Lily's hand, a melancholy expression on her face, "Oh my sweet flower, you have no idea. Your friend, the one you called 'Jameson', is not dead. He was injected with a Class-Z to sedate him." Zena's hand came up to Lily's cheek, but the girl pulled away, looking at the ground. Zena continued in a low voice, "Do you think we would do that? Kill someone in cold blood?"

Lily laughed bitterly, "Yes. Yes I think you would. You and every other group that gets a little power. I know you lot are a little new here, but I grew up on stories of the Rinan. You should ask Jameson, apparently his dad was there for it too. Maybe he can enlighten you about what happens when battleships descend on an enemy system." She crossed her arms on the front of her chest, her anger abating for just long enough to see that she had fallen for the trap. She had begun talking, the one thing she was trying to avoid.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zena wilt slightly, her leaves facing downward and her gaze shifting away. An uncomfortable silence followed before the Affini tried again. "We are not humans," she said simply, letting the statement sit. Lily didn't respond, content to let the conversation sit at that. She saw Jameson stabbed in his neck. Captain was firing a carbine at them. Of course they were dead, and she was stupid for asking. She blew a stray piece of hair out of her eyes before she decided to make one more mistake, ask one more question. "Will they get a proper burial? Captain and Jameson?"

"Lily, they're not dead!" Zena pleaded, a hint of steel in her voice. Lily could tell that it wasn't intentional, she could tell that it was an involuntary reaction. She was pushing the Affini to the edge, and eventually Zena would fall over it. She wasn't sure what would happen when she did. "They aren't dead and they won't be receiving burials because they are still alive. After living a nice, long, fulfilling natural life, then yes of course they will receive a proper burial with much weeping and recounting of their effect on their owners and maybe connivents and friends and-" Zena cut herself off and seemed to be collecting her thoughts. "We're not monsters, Lily."

Lily had a dozen retorts ready on the tip of her tongue, but with the newfound edge in Zena's voice and the fact that she didn't mean to get involved in a conversation in the first place, she let it drop. Zena only reached out to touch her twice more during their trip to the main vessel. Both times she shrank away from the touch.

She knew that it hurt Zena, she could see it plain as day on her face. She may not have grew up around Affini, but they had either adopted human affect or were like humans in that way, because they certainly wore their heart on their sleeve in a very human-like way. It hurt Zena, and yet Lily didn't stop. Perhaps if she didn't want to get hurt, she would no longer abduct humans to work the mines, she thought vindictively. Righteous anger boiled in her heart, stopping her from feeling empathy, stopping her from questioning herself. Now wasn't the time for self-reflection, now was the time for single-minded determination. She would free herself from this, and nothing in the universe would stop her. Not the Accord, not the Compact, not Zena, not anyone.

She kept her fiery spirit as the ship left the atmosphere. In the darkness, what could only be their destination came into view. The colossal ship in the distance barely even classified as a ship to Lily. Its gargantuan size so thoroughly destroyed her conception of a space vessel that she may never look at Terran ships the same way again. In comparison, the ship they were currently in was but a tiny mote of dust dancing in a far, far larger room. She couldn't hold the awe back from her expression, and she noted that Zena had a look of pride at her reaction. Lily pouted, not exactly thrilled at being ogled for her reaction. To her frustration, this only seemed to increase Zena's glee. She even heard her captor mutter breathlessly, "Everbloom, you're so cute when you're excited."